“Ella? Where the hell- Ahh, there you are!”
Looking up from the book she was reading, Ella smile slipped at the troubled expression on her friends’ usually happy face as she walked across the patio towards her. Wearing the typical black garb that the guards favoured while on duty and her almost blue-black skin she blended into the night almost as well as her black Werewolf form did when she changed. Usually though her bright smile and her pale blue eyes gave her away but right then only there was no smile. “Oh god. Hi, Mel, something wrong?”
Even though she had been sent there with a task to do, Mel pulled out the chair Ella gestured to and sat down with her to enjoy whatever time she could grab with her. They saw each other every day and yet it felt far too long since they had managed to have any time together to just chat and be friends. “Yoanna wants to see you.”
Ella slipped her bookmark into place before gently closing the book and placing it in her lap. Fingers traced over the cover, seeking comfort in all the familiar dents and scratches placed upon it over time. “Why do I have the feeling this is something to do with Sinn?”
Mel tried to school her face at the mention of the other woman but it wasn’t easy. Not when it came to Sinn… not with what she had done to Eric and the others. “Maybe because that girl is trouble with a capital ‘T’?”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Marcus. One of these days I’m going to say ‘she’s not that bad’ and someone will believe me,” Ella sighed in frustration and poked her tongue out as Mel flashed her a dazzling white grin. She wished they could all see the side of Sinn that she did. She had been Sinn herself not all that long ago, she knew the anger that drove her as it had pushed her and controlled her actions in the past too. Yes, Sinn had an unfortunate way of getting in their path but that was only because she was a good Hunter. That she let her path be altered to do good, instead of just blindly following the instructions of the mysterious Mentor that was holding her leash, just proved that she was a good person too.
The only other person there that seemed willing to see that there was more to Sinn was Yoanna and she was one of the ones Sinn was least likely to want to trust no matter how much of a beautiful couple they had looked curled up together when Ella had seen them last. “Where’s Yoanna?”
“In the upstairs library. She seems to like that place almost as much as you do,” Mel nodded to the book Ella had been reading. If she wasn’t reading, her friend could usually be found up amongst the stacks of books in the library, they all knew that. And they all knew that since her pregnancy her passion for them had only grown… especially since the Healers and Doctors had ordered her to cut down on what she considered her duties around the mansion and Bitten.
“And no Sinn?” She knew the answer but asked anyway.
“Nope. She’s nowhere to be found and Eric says no one saw her leave either so he’s got everyone out checking to make sure she’s not hiding out.” Which had not impressed Eric as that meant his precious schedules were thrown up in the air once more.
“No one would unless she wanted them to.” Not wanting to keep Yoanna waiting any longer than necessary, Ella quickly made her way to the library while Mel went to see where Eric wanted her that night. She was glad that the ointments their Healers had given them had healed up the deep cuts Sinn had inflicted on everyone… broken bones took longer but at least there would be no scars for them to hold a grudge about.
There were actually two libraries in the mansion, one in the above ground part of the main building and a second one that was cut into the bedrock along with the main sleeping area and more expansive living quarters for the Vampires that weren’t strong enough to handle direct sunlight or just liked the extra security that came from being below ground. Both were stocked the same but the one downstairs had proven more difficult to keep in order and had ended up with some of the Vampires keeping their own sections. Ella loved books and when it came to books she loved order so, for her own sanity, she tended to use the upstairs library and left them to their chaos in the other. She had tried to change their attitude but butting heads with hundreds of years of stubborn in Marcus sometimes left her feeling like she would rather just take up weapons and join Sinn hunting again.
As elegant and poised as always, Yoanna stood out against the backdrop of dark, leather bound books that filled the bookcases even though she was standing as perfectly still as one of the marble statues that stood as silent guardians around the room. She was so quiet that Ella wasn’t even sure that Yoanna was aware that she had entered the room until she spoke.
“You have her phone number, don’t you?”
“Sinn’s?” A fine eyebrow climbed at her redundant question and made Ella suddenly feel like a child again. “Yes I do.” Turning on the screen of her phone, Ella scrolled through her list of contacts. Luckily after being thrown with force against the wall her phone had proved to be tougher than it looked and had just fallen apart and not broken. After that though, Eric had insisted that all phones were kept in the protective cases he had provided for them all months before. “What happened?”
“I had to take a private call and, as I thought she was asleep, I left the room so as not to disturb her. When I got back she was gone,” Yoanna sighed in frustration. “I should have realised that she would try something. I was expecting it really but I was also hoping she wouldn’t. I want you to call and get her back here.”
“After what happened what makes you think I could get her to come back?”
“She trusts you enough to have her number, Ella. If I called on your phone she would hang up as soon as she heard my voice… you she would at least listen to first. I could go get her but that would take time and I want her to come back on her own accord. It will make things easier for her and me if she does. Figure out what will make that happen Ella… and if it helps motivate her don’t forget that Marcus stays where he is until she forgives him.”
“Well that’s something I very much doubt she would want to help with even before he threw her across the room,” Ella grumbled as she thought of the stubbornness in both of them. “The distrust flows both ways with them.”
“Yes, they do both seem to but cut from very stubborn cloth,” she tapped an elegant finger on the table in thought. “Work out what will get her here, Ella. If I have to do it by force I can and will but that will just make her even more difficult to handle than she usually is and I’ve waited long enough.”
“Difficult is one word to describe her,” Ella muttered. Chewing her lip in thought, Ella pressed speed dial on Sinn’s number and kept trying until it was finally answered. Ella put it on speaker and waited but as was usual with Sinn though she said nothing and just let the silence hang there and forced Ella to speak first. She knew why, just as Yoanna had worked out somehow, it was to check who was really calling first. “Are you there, Sinn?”
Sinn clicked the control on the Bluetooth in her helmet and switched mute off. “What do you want, Ella?”
“You need to come back to the mansion.”
Head snapping around in disbelief at Ella’s request, Sinn looked back in the direction to where the mansion lay. “What?! Are you crazy?! Has someone got a gun to your head?”
“No. I need your help.” Ella wondered if the call had cut off as the silence stretched out again. She looked to Yoanna but the Vampire held a finger up to her lips, telling her to wait a bit longer.
Sinn sighed at the continued silence. She should hang up, it would be so much easier if she did. But the fear of what she might know about why she was there or what she might try made Sinn answer. “What’s wrong?” she finally relented.
Yoanna smiled softly in satisfaction at Sinn’s reluctant query and urged Ella to continue.
“Just come back, Sinn. Please, I need your help.”
“She’s there isn’t she?”
Even over the phone, Ella could hear a hint of something in Sinn’s question that gave her pause and made her try to delay answering. “Who?”
“Ella, you know damn well who?”
“Yoanna?” Ella smiled when it dawned on her what it was. Sinn didn’t sound angry when she’d asked about Yoanna. There was unease and caution and a little catch to her voice that made Ella wonder if she would have been seeing an actual blush upon Sinn’s face if she had been there. Of course it could be wishful thinking on her part as Sinn liking Yoanna would make life easier and could help get Sinn settled away from her Mentor. “Yes, she’s still at the mansion.”
The line went silent again, not a crackle of static or whisper of quiet breathing to say if it was still connected. “Are you still there, Sinn?”
“I’ll come when it gets light,” Sinn answered quietly. Knowing Ella there was something else even more deadly going on there that they needed help with. Wouldn’t be the first or even the tenth time that had happened. Sinn didn’t want to run into the blonde again so the best bet was to go in when it was light and find out what was going on and if she really did need to stick around to help.
“Now, Sinn. You know damn well none of the guards are going to let you in when the Vampires are still asleep and they won’t let me out alone either,” she added before Sinn could think to suggest that as an out. “Being all pregnant has got them extra protective,” she explained.
“How in the hell did that happen anyway?”
“Oh, you know, the usual way pregnancy happens,” Ella chuckled. “Boy and girl get together…”
“That’s not what I meant, dummy! I thought Vampires were sterile! Or did you finally go out and find someone better?”
“Sinn!!” Ella barked at Sinn’s words. She had had quite enough of comments like that from people there and she wasn’t going to put up with it from Sinn too.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Sinn apologized sincerely at Ella’s angry retort. She had crossed a line and she knew it but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take one more shot at Marcus. After all, he had tried to kill her so she felt he deserved it even if he wasn’t there to hear it. “I know you would never cheat on that blood sucking bastard.”
“Sinn!” gripping the phone a little tighter, Ella resisted the urge to bite it or throttle it in Sinn’s place and settled with rolling her eyes which seemed to amuse Yoanna. “God, you and Marcus drive me crazy sometimes! And more than ever I need you two to get along.”
“Sorry, Ella, ain’t never gonna happen. I don’ remember a whole hell of a lot from the other night but I do seem to remember that he nearly killed me.”
“Yeah, well I kind of need you to forgive him for that,” biting her lip she held the phone away in anticipation of Sinn’s response to that bit of news.
“HA! Yeah, right!” Sinn snorted derisively. “Now, what crazy shit is goin’ on this time that makes y’all think I would walk right back on in there while all the Vampires are up and about?!”
Ella grinned as Sinn’s accent suddenly dropped into a distinct Texas drawl. Knowing her it would shift out just as quickly but it was always a sure sign that her dark-haired friend was off guard. “Exactly what I said… I need you to forgive Marcus.”
“Ella, you really aren’t making much sense! Now why in the hell would I need to forgive him or even want to when he’s never forgiven me for pointing a gun at him that first time? Not like I even hurt him that time but I’m supposed to forgive him for cracking my head open? I remember the blood Ella! I- I don’t know what happened but I know I shouldn’t be alive after losing all that blood!”
“He’s being locked up for hurting you,”
“Locked up? Wait- Marcus is being punished? I thought he was the god over everything there? Did a coup happen since I was in Bitten last?”
“No, Marcus is still in charge here but Yoanna is over everyone… you remember Yoanna? The blonde Vampire you woke up naked with? You looked so cute cuddling up to her like that.” After Sinn’s jibe at Marcus, understandable or not, she couldn’t resist getting a shot in herself. Especially if it kept Sinn off-guard as then she wouldn’t be picking holes in everything and would be more likely to react how she needed her too… or at least that was what Ella was hoping anyway.
“I- we didn’t- I-”
“Point is,” Ella interrupted Sinn’s embarrassed floundering. “Yoanna wasn’t too pleased that Marcus hurt you and he’s being punished until you come back and forgive him for what happened.”
“Good!”
“Sinn! Please,” she begged softly, sweetening her tone to try and win over her friends cooperation. “Come back to the mansion and help me get my husband back… he just thought you were going to hurt me.”
“I would never hurt you!”
“I know that, but he over reacted with me being so close to giving birth. I know you and he have your issues with each other but, please, I would really like to have him there when the baby comes. And you too. Please, help me have that.”
Propping her hip on the edge of a table, Yoanna listened in and smiled at Ella’s tactics as she used her pregnancy to cajole, guilt and manoeuvre Sinn in the direction she wanted. It was done so blatantly that there was no way that Sinn couldn’t know what was happening but Ella had the advantage as Sinn really seemed to trust and care a great deal for her.
“And why can’t I just forgive him over the phone?”
Crooking a finger at Ella, Yoanna took the phone from her. “Because, my dear, Sinn,” she purred as she heard Sinn’s breath catch. “I want to see those eyes of yours. Only when I see it in your eyes will I believe that you forgive him. Now, if you want to help your friend here get her husband back I suggest you turn up. Otherwise her baby can grow up without a Father for all I care.”
Handing the phone back Ella, Yoanna returned to her lounging position against the table. Ella had been doing well but she knew her stubborn Sinn had got to the point where she needed an added incentive to step back into the lion’s den.
“Please, Sinn, help me. Come back?”
“Okay, fine,” Sinn sighed. “I’ll be back later.”
“Just after sunset and through the door this time? The front door,” Ella specified to try to stop Sinn from quite literally dropping in on them again.
“Through the door,” Sinn agreed reluctantly.
“And no weapons!”
“Ella!”
“You know they won’t let you in armed and you won’t need them anyway. I promise.”
“Fine!”
“You don’t honestly believe she will come unarmed do you?” Yoanna chuckled as Ella stuck her tongue out in exasperation at the phone after Sinn abruptly hung up on them.
“Oh no, she’ll be armed to the teeth. I would be if I was in her position, just ask Marcus. It used to drive him crazy how much I managed to sneak in when he thought I shouldn’t need anything.” Unfortunately there had been too many times when the weapons she had got through searches had proven to be the thing that had saved her life. “She’ll be searched thoroughly though and I guarantee that she’ll still get some in with her anyway.” It had become something of a game with them. A dangerous one at that with how deadly Sinn could be with just bare hands but until her last drop in most of her visits had gone by fairly painlessly. “Last time she admitted before she left that she’d still had five weapons of some kind left on her the whole time even though three of the most experienced guards patted her down.” Ella smiled at the memory but her eyes were deadly serious as she looked at Yoanna.
“I really like, Sinn… she’s good at heart but… please, don’t take this the wrong way but don’t trust her just yet, Yoanna. Please. She came here the other night to kill you for some reason and until we know why and can work things out she will more than likely try again. I know you are very powerful but I know you want Sinn too. For your sake and everyone else’s… don’t give her the chance to hurt you.”
From anyone else the warning would have just made Yoanna furious but she knew it was meant well and came from someone that cared deeply for Sinn and knew just what she was capable of. “Do not worry, I know she will more than likely try something tonight. Just make sure that the guards understand to keep out of the way if she does. She is mine to handle and they are not to touch her unless they want to join Marcus… assuming I don’t kill them for disobeying me that is.”
That small smile of anticipation on Yoanna’s face worried Ella no end but she gave the Vampire a small bow and went to make sure that everyone was aware that Sinn would be turning up later so they could try to avoid any confrontation between them at least.
While she waited for the sun to set, Sinn returned to the main cabin she was renting. Even though she had arranged with Ella that she would go back to the mansion willingly, Sinn looked around carefully as she checked the spare gun she kept hidden on her bike. Before she went near the small building she wanted to be as sure as he could that there weren’t any unwanted surprises from the mansion or anywhere else lurking around.Crouching down amongst the bushes in the shade of the trees she looked down at the cabin and reached out with her powers. The sun being up meant she was safe from Vampires but Werewolves could move around at any time of the day and were almost as strong as a Vampire even if they weren’t Alpha enough to change with the full moon still weeks away.Sinn knew she was good, better than good, with most weapons and hand to hand combat but no amount of training helped much if something that could toss a truck and ri
Hands shaking, Sinn turned off the engine and took off her black, full face helmet before she gave in to the temptation to speed off in the other direction. Out of the corner of her eye as she saw Ella coming out to greet her with four guards shadowing her every move as they glared at her. “Four? Really?” The number wouldn’t have bothered her even if their numbers had been doubled but it was not like Ella to hide behind guards when dealing with her.“They wanted to send out more but I pulled rank.” Giving her a wry smile, Ella wrapped her arms around Sinn as she finished stowing her helmet away and hugged her as best as she could with her belly getting in the way. Despite the confrontational looks she was shooting the guards, Ella could tell that Sinn was nervous and ready to bolt given half a chance but Sinn surprised her and actually relaxed into her hug and returned it. “Sinn,” leaning back, she gave the young woman a disapproving
Taking Sinn by the hand, Ella urged her gently into moving and followed Yoanna through to the apartments. She felt the nervous flutter of the hand in hers as they finally came to a stop in the bedroom. It was probably not the most professional of places to give a pat down but it had the added effect right then of keeping Sinn off guard. And herself, Ella had to admit. It was strange to see Sinn being so pursued by anyone given the ‘get the fuck away from me’ attitude she usually had in place. It was definitely throwing Sinn off guard though and Ella still hadn’t quite made up her mind if it was a good or bad thing for Sinn or them. Sinn wasn’t protesting the attention though. If she had, Queen or not, Ella would have found a way to remove Sinn from the situation and protect her… and Yoanna from any reprisals. Coming to a halt, Yoanna turned and watched as Ella nudged Sinn forwards before taking up position where she could grab Sinn if necessary. Sinn for her p
“Now. If we are to go any further, I need your weapons. Sinn?” Yoanna held out her hand expectantly. “I haven’t got any more on…” Sinn’s voice trailed off under the weight of those blue eyes and her own guilt as she remembered just what she was wearing. “Just thought of some, huh?” Removing her jacket again, Sinn handed it over to Yoanna without a word. Ella had searched it already but she knew that not everything had been found. Mostly the garrotte wire Ella had mentioned. Just because she was giving them up didn’t mean she had to let on as to where everything was hidden in it though. “And the rest.” Grumbling mumbled obscenities about pushy vampires under her breath, Sinn kicked her boots off and handed over her wristwatch and studded leather bracelet. Then with a sigh, removed the belt from her jeans too. “There, that’s it.” “Hmm… nope, don’t b
Keeping Sinn off guard, Yoanna pulled her sports bra up, ripping it at the seams in her haste as she exposed her breasts from beneath. While Sinn was busy covering up her modesty she ripped open her jeans, sending the button flying across the room and simply pulled them and her underwear off at the same time rather than waste time bothering with niceties. She damaged both beyond repair in her haste before ripping her bra completely apart at the seams and throwing the ruined fabric of each item of clothing off the side of the bed.“There, that’s better.” Gently pinning Sinn’s hands above her head with one of hers, Yoanna sighed in satisfaction as she settled herself between Sinn’s parted thighs and smiled down at her flustered expression.The feel of her own clothing coming between them was almost more than she could stand but right then Yoanna knew that if she pulled back to take any of her own clothing off Sinn
“Sinn,” Yoanna lulled gently, “look at me. Give me those eyes.” Fingers stroking through her dark hair, Yoanna teased it back as Sinn used every ounce of her self-control and looked up for her. Yoanna’s hand stilled as she took in her eyes. “Oh,” she breathed softly in shock.Sinn’s eyes were beautiful, the most sensual and seductive that Yoanna had ever seen in her life. Calling them green didn’t really even begin to do them justice. The green was a dark olive flecked through with browns and yellows around the pupil and encircled by a line of darker green that was almost black before it met the white. Right then though, whilst the same colour, they had taken on the reflective metallic sheen that most Vampire’s eyes held when they needed to feed or how hers did when her power was high. It was different than the glow from a cats eyes when struck by light as they shone from within and Yoanna had never see
As Sinn released a drawn-out breath, Yoanna felt a rush of warmth flowing across her body that made her spine writhe in pleasure. It was gentle, pleasant like the caress of a summer’s night, the brush of fur or a lover’s touch. Lifting a hand she felt the air between them. It felt thicker somehow, like swimming through warm water or very thick fog. There was nothing physical to touch and yet it felt as though she could push at it if she really tried. “Sinn, what are you doing?” she questioned lightly, needing to understand.Sinn frowned slightly at the interruption. “I’m just feeling for all the Vampires and Werewolves around. Now, shush, please?”Yoanna tried to hold her questions for when Sinn was done, she really did, but it was a soul achingly long time, far longer than she cared to remember, since she had felt that kind of power at work and her curiosity got the better of her. “How far can
As she followed Yoanna into the living room area of the apartment and watched her open the door, Sinn tried really hard not to let the Vampire’s curvy body distract her. It was just about an impossible task though and it wasn’t until Marcus and Ella stepped through the doorway that she realised that Yoanna had even opened it for them.The big Vampire didn’t look too impressed at all, in fact he looked like he was building up towards the kind of impressive rage that redheads were supposedly notorious for. Sinn braced herself and looked around to see which piece of furniture she could use or break a piece off to use to defend herself. As two guards followed the pair inside though, Sinn realised that it was the indignity of being escorted through what was his own home like a criminal was what had his blood boiling more than usual.Ella for her part looked frustrated too as she moved from behind Marcus. Her look and position left Sinn in little doubt that